Device for securing and releasing life-boats.



H. W. BROADY. DEVICE FOR SECURING AND RBLEASING LIFE BOATS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 8,1913. 1 ,1 1 8,527. Patented Nov. 24, 191 i 4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

H. W. BROADY.

DEVICE FOR SECURING AND RELEASING LIFE BOATS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 8, 1913.

Patented NOV. 24, 1914.

4 SHEETS SHEBT 2 an J . lllllll H. W. BROADY. DEVICE FOR SECURING AND RBLEASING LIFE BOATS. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 8, 1913.

1,1 1 8,527. Patented Nov. 24, 1914.

4 BHEETSSHEBT 3.

H. W. BROADY.

DEVICE FOR SECURING AND RELBASING LIFE BOATS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. a, 1913.

..... 1 HMHH 1 M Q fi n l wmm BHEETS-SHEET 4.

Patented NOV. 24,1914.

oEEToE.

HARRY W. BROADY, 0F BAYSIDE. NEW YORK, ASSIGNOLR TO \VELIN' MARINE EQUIP- MENT CO., A. CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

DEVICE FOR S'EC'lJRING AND RELEASING LIFE-BOATS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 24:, 1.91.4.

Application filed January 8. 1918. Serial No.,740,807.

T all whom it may concern Be it known that I, IIARRY \V. Buoxnv, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Bayside, borough of Queens, county of Queens, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Securing and llelcas.- ing Life-Boats, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to iinprovcn'ients in devices for securing and releasing lifeboats and particularly to that type of de-' vice wherein a lifeboat mounted on a suitable pivoted support secured to the deck of a vessel is adapted to be. tilted aboutits longitudinal axis byrocking the support on its pivot.

The object of the present invention is to improve this type of device whereby the launching of a lifeboat or a plurality ofnested lifeboats will be greatly facilitated, and With this end in view, a feature of the present invention consistsin the provision of a support for one or more lifeboats pivoted on the deck of a vessel, means for securingthe lifeboat to such support and means for tilting the support, comprising a link pivoted intermediate its ends and ha g ne e d connected to said support and an actuating lever for rocking said link fulcrumed on a suitably supported movable pivot.

' Another feature of my invention consists in the provision with such a suitable support of a plurality of nested lifeboats mounted thereon, flexible connections for securing the lower boat to such pivoted support, flexible connections for securing an upper boat in place on the lower boat, means for rocking the support to tilt both lifcboats and means for releasing the flexible connections of the upper of said nested lifebo-ats simultaneously with the tilting of the support to perm-it an immediate suspension of said upper boat by suitable davits.

The preferred embodiment of my invention comprises a rigid supporting cradle for one side of eachend of a lifeboat, each cradle preferably composed of two members secured to the deck of the vessel and having their inboard ends terminating in cradling blocks or uprights having curves conforming to the shell of the boat, the outboard ends of such members, or that portion extendin outboard beyond the longitudinal axis 0 the boat, preferably being cut down 7 preferably guided to travel or inclined downwardly toward the edge or side of the ship, and these two rigid, stationary supporting members not only form a cradle for the inboard side of the boat but also form raised bearings for a short shaft extending parallel to the keel or longitudi nal axis of the boat, on which shaft is pivoted a rocking beam which is positioned between such stationary members; is normally retained in horizontal position and contacts with the bottom of the lifeboat so supported at the inboard side by the stationary members: gripes for securingthc lower boat in position on said beam, such gripes preferably extending from a ring at the outboard end to a ring at the dependent gripes for securing the upper boat in position on the lower boat, prefer- ,ably connected at the outboard end to a ring for rocking said rocking beam to tilt the boats and locking the same in its extreme positions, comprising an angular rocking link pivoted to swing on such as a bracket secured tothe side edge of one of the two upright portions or cradling blocks of the supporting cradle, one arm of said link being connected by means of a universal link pivoted to the rocking beam and the other arm preferably being connected by means of a connecting rod to an angular link similarly pivoted and similarly connected to a twin rocking beam at the other end of the boat; and means for swinging said rocking link on its pivot to rock the twin beams to tilt the boats. said link rocking means comprising a swinging or traveling connection with a movable pivot a vertical plane substantially in alinemcnt with said link pivot by means of a slot formed in the aforesaid bracket, the mo able pivot being provided with a roller extend-- ing into a transverse arc-shaped slot in the link; an actuating lever having one end pivotally engaging the link and an intermediate pivotal connection with the guided movable or reciprocating pivot.

'In the accompanying drawings, in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, Figure 1 is a side view of two boats supported and secured by my improved dea suitable support,

or reciprocate in brackets 12 and 13 secured to vice illustrated in curve 9 conforming to 'end entirely free and 1 The upper elevation of the del; Fig. 3 is an enof a device embodying boats being removed;

vice; Fig. 2 is an end larged end elevation my invention, the Fig. 4 is a plan. view of Fig-3; Fig. 5 is anenlarged side elevation of the inboard side of said device; Fig, 6 is an end elevation of a device embodying my invention in elevated or tilted position, the upper boat and portion of the lower boat being broken away; and Fig. 7 is an enlarged side elevation similar to Fig. 5, the mechanism being shown in the opposite extreme position.

Referring now to these drawings, 1 designates the deck of the vessel to which is rigidly secured twin supporting cradles 2 for the inboard side of a lifeboat. llhe p cradles 2 are preferably bolted to the deck so that a boat supported thereon will assume a horizontal position and when the deck is rounded, as shown, I provide foundation blocks or sleepers 8 to obtain the desired horizontal position. cradles, asshown, comprise two rigid and stationary cradle beams 2 and 2 respectively, and the inboard side of each cradle beam has an upright portion 8 having a the bottom of the life boat. As shown, a fiat-bottomed boat it rests at its inboard side in the cradles, and another fiat-bottomed boat 5 is nested or supported thereon and is suspended from twin davits 6-6 by means of blocks and falls'77. Obviously if the boat 4 were a round bottom boat the curve 9 would be changed to correspond thereto. As illustrated, the outboard side of such stationary cradle beams are cut down or inclined toward the deck so as to leave such outboard unobstructed when the boats are tilted as hereinafter described, and this outboard end maybe entirely cut away without materially affecting my invention.

A tilting beam 10 is pivoted intermediate its ends on an axle or shaft 11 bearing in the stationary cradle beams 2 2' respectively, and said beam is normally retained in horizontal position and contacts at bothsides of its pivot with the bottom of the boat 4: which is securely retained in position thereon by means of a gripe chain 15 or other suitable flexible connection which extends completely around the boat from a ring 13 at the outboard side of the tilting beam 10 to a ring 14 at its inboard side, the inboard side of the gripe 15 being provided with a pelican hook 1G to permit the readyconnection with the ring 14-;

of the two nested boats 5 as illustrated, retained in place onthe lower boat by means of a gripe chain 17 connected at the outboard side to a ring '18 in the the device shown in viously be tilted from Each of the twin.

deck and at its inboard side to a hook 19 which will be. moved to disengage thenefrom simultaneouslywrtirit lie tilting of the boats as will now 'be d escribeds The boats being-secured in position as above described, if the beam 1G is rocked on its axle'o'r shaft llflooth boats will (9b!- their normal hori zontal position to position in which the inboard side will be considerably raised above such normal, horizontal position and the outboard side lowered considerably below such normal horizontal position, the boats rocking or tilting together about a common horizontal axis, and it will be apparent that the upper boat which, as afore said, is suspended from the davits will in launching reaoily clear the outboard gum my device will compensate for the list of the vessel and permit the launching of a boat which it would otherwise be impossible to launch. In nested lifeboats, however, such tilting is essential to a rapid landing when the ship or vessel is on an even keel, it being impractical tochock lifeboats one on top of the other in the ordinary way in which a boat is checked on the deck, and it is therefore necessary either to tilt the nested boats toward the outboard side of the vessel of the upper boat will clear the gunwales of the lower, or the upper boat must be raised bodily considerably above the lower boat. i

As will be understood from the foregoing,

I preferably providetwin retaining and tiltvery little effort will be enabled instan-- tancously to tilt two' or more boat's. In the so that in launching the bottom preferred form of this lever andlink mechanism illustrated, an an ular rocking link 20 is-pivotcd at 21 to a bracket 22 secured to the inboard side of the upr ght portion-8 1ng arm and of one of the cradle beams 2", has an arm 26 extending laterally therefrom and pivotally connected by means of a universal link 27 to the tilting beam 10; another arm 29 extending at an angle from the connectpivotally connected by connecting rod 30 to another angular link 31, which is pivoted at 32 to an upright portion 8 of the cradling device at the opposite end and has a similar pivotal connection vith the tilting beam at said end. With suitable power-applying devices the links at both ends may be rocked sin'mltaneously by one man to lift the beams at the inboard ends and I have provided an extremely simple power-applying device which not only permits its lifting and lowering the tilting beams at both ends simultaneously but antomatically locks such beams in extreme positions. Thus, I provide a connection between the arm 29 of the angular link 20 and a movable pivot 24, which is in the form of a roller and travels or reciprocates in a verticallydisposed slot 25 in the fixed bracket 22, by means of an actuating lever 28 which is pivoted at one end to the arm 29 of said link and is fulcrumed intermediate its ends on said movable pivot 24, said connection between the slot 25 and lever preferably being made by extending said pivot 24: laterally through an arc-shaped slot 23 ;in the arm 29 of said link 20. In the normal position of the device, when used in connection with two boats, the gripe chains for securing the upper boat will be secured at their inboard ends, as aforesaid, to the books 19 of the links 20 and 31 and the rocking of the links will simultaneously lift the tilting beams and release the gripes at the inboard side.

It will be noted that by the use of the power-applying device just described, the lever 28 will be most effective when most needed and that the mechanism will be locked in its extreme positions; that at the start of the movement of the lever, the movable pivot 24: will move upwardly in the slot 25 and the link, which is movable on its pivot 21, will begin to swing, the arm 29 to which power is applied moving toward the load and the line of pull at the beginning of movement bongfrom the end of the lever to the movable fulcrum and upwardly to the pivot. Obviously at the start of the movement of the lever, which point the greatest amount of power is required, this arrangement will cause the pull to be of infinite strength, and, as the movable pivot moves further upwardly in its slot and the end of the arm 29 of the link moves around such movable pivot, the line of pull will gradually approach a vertical straight line and only a small amount of power will be necessary until it passes again to a right angular pull on the other side of the vertical plane in' which the pivot of the link lies,

when by further rotation of the lever, the device may be readily locked in the opposite extreme position. The reverse motion will, of course, bring the parts back to normal position, and the last link of gripe chain for the upper boat will be placed beneath the hook before the tion.

Having described my invention I claim l. The combination with a support for a lifeboat pivoted on the deck of a vessel, means for securing the lifeboat to such support, a link pivoted intermediate its ends and having one end connected to said pivotal support and means for rocking said link, comprising an actuating lever pivoted to said link and fulcrumcd on a suitably supported movable pivot.

2. The combination with dle for the inboard side supplementary support pivoted on the deck of a vessel and contacting'with both inboard and outboard sides of the bottom of the life boat, means for rocking such support to tilt the lifeboat and means for locking such pivotal support to the stationary cradle to retain the same in extreme positions.

3. The combination with a suitable stationary support for the inboard side of a lifeboat, of another support pivoted intermediate its ends and contacting with the bottom of the lifeboat, an angular link pivoted to said stationary support having one arm pivotally connected to said pivo ed support, means for locking such link to said stationary support to retain the pivoted support in horizontal and inclined positions respectively.

link reaches extreme posia stationary craot a lifeboat, of a 4. The combination with a suitable stafor the inboard side of a lifeboat, of another support pivoted intermediate its ends and contacting with the bottom of the lifeboat, an angular link pivoted to said stationary su port having one arm pivotally connected to said pivoted support, a. movable pivot supported in a'slot in the said stationary support, a connection between such movable pivot and the opposite arm of said link and means for rocking said link to opposite sides of said movable pivot.

5. The combination with a suitable stationary support for the inboard side of a lifeboat, of another support pivoted intermediate its ends and contacting with the bottom of the lifeboat, an angular link pivoted to said stationary support having one arm pivotally connected to said pivoted support, a movable pivot supported in a slot in the said stationary support, an actuating lever fulcrumed on said movable pivot and pivoted to said link for swinging the same to opposite sides of.said movable pivot and locking the pivotal supportin horizontal and inclined positions respectively.

6. The combination w1th a plurality of tionary support nested lifebonts, of a suitable s'upportipiv eted the elect at n vessel, flexible-connecl sir securing the lower boat to such pivoteci support, flexible connections for secur- 5 an upper host in'plece on the lewe'i boat, devi'cs and means for suspe'nuing the uppeibeet therefrom, means for retaining such in horizontal position, means for the same to tilt both ii'fei oats and. reieesing the flexible connections boat siniuiteneously with the euppeet. combination with a plurality of boats cf suitebie s pport pivk of a vessel flexible connecthe lower boat to en 1h pivflexible connections for secur bent in place on the lower best, means for suspentiing the upper 'fioin for retaining such i; n h zen-tat position, means for be same to tilt both iiiiebosts cemn enguiai? link suitably pivoted inits ends and havinq an arm pit .iectetl to said, pivoted support" combination with twin, pivotal gsten'i; may be obtainefl :Eoiapposite ends of s lifeboat, illone of 5nd twin pivotal supports, means for connecting the other arm of such angular links and ineansfor reciting one of such links to rock the twin supports on their respective pivots end for ioclnng the same in horizontelvend inclined. positions respectively,

9. The combination with twin "pivotal supports for opposite ends of a lifeboat, angular links for each of such twin pivotal supports, each pivoted intermediate its end Hid having an arm pivotaliy connected to one of seicl twin pivotal supports, means for connecting the other arm of such angular links and means for rocking one of such links to rock the twin supports on their respective pivots In Witness whereof, 1 have signed my name to the foregoing specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

HARRY W. BRQADY.

l fitnesses 2 FREDERICK P. RANDOLPH. HnLnn V. HOLMEs.

for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of "Patents,

'Weshingten, 13." 

